This day 1986 - Unbeaten league run comes to an end

Erimus74

Erimus74

Well-known member
11th of October Blackpool came to Ayresome Park for a third division fixture & our 10th league game of the season

Due to the clubs summer of 86 uncertainty the players had no preseason friendlies to reach match fitness, the only football they played during those agonising months was between the players tgemselves training in local parks, with jumpers as goalpists
Boro manager Bruce Rioch had relied on the same starting 11, bar one game

As each match came the players wete building up their fitness level & with the run the playets were confident going in to the Blackpool game
Unbeaten in the 1st 9 games, if you include league cup matches, then one defeat in 13, after been knocked out of the league cup only 4 days earlier to 2nd division Birmingham City & they needed extra time

Unfortunately, even Archie Stephens 7th goal of the season was not enough as Blackpool ran out 3-1 winners

Aftee our brilliantvstart to the season its now 2 defeats on the bounce & out of the league Cup, have we been found out or, will the Teesside spirit push us on

Bruce's team

Stephen Pears
Brian Laws
Colin Cooper
Tony Mowbray
Gary Parkinson
Gary Pallister
Bernie Slaven
Archie Stephens
Gary Hamilton
Gary Gill
Stuart Ripley
Sub
Alan Kernaghan
 
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I was living on the South Coast and did not go to the game. However I was watching my state of the art telextext (no Internet in those days and little National radio coverage) and thought it was broken, I was so used to us not losing.
 
Did Paul Stewart get a hat-trick that day Erimus? I remember thinking he was some player and would surely go onto greater things. Not long after he went to Man City, then Spurs and Liverpool for multi million pound deals (y)
 
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